


The Best of Friends

by Anonymous



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Accidental Marriage, Best Friends, Bonding over Quidditch, F/M, Friendship/Love, Soulmates, Through the Years, old magick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:56:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29642673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The story of two best friends.
Relationships: Katie Bell/Dean Thomas
Comments: 12
Kudos: 20
Collections: Tag(line) You're It! Competition





	The Best of Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [Tagline_Youre_It_Comp_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Tagline_Youre_It_Comp_2020) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> "He chopped down the family tree..." Kind Hearts and Coronets / Katie Bell & Dean Thomas / Accidental Bond or Marriage
> 
> Major thanks to the lovely admins of the fun comp. This was harder than I anticipated, but a joy to write. I'm glad you're coming along on this rare pair journey, and I hope you enjoy the ride! Anything you recognize is not mine, and any mistakes you see are mine.

Dean had always been the sporty type. Like any natural born Brit, he lived and breathed football. And like any respectable Londoner, he was a West Ham fan for life. His room was covered in claret and blue from a combination of posters, bed sets, and other paraphernalia.

Of course, Seth, his step-dad, encouraged the obsession. He was a fan himself, and West Ham matches were his favorite way to bond with the son he always wanted but was never able to father. The two held season tickets for every home match, and Dean looked forward to the time spent with Seth. On weekends without a match, the two could be found in the local park, practicing their own footy skills. Dean wanted to become a striker, and Seth was doing everything in his power to help him achieve his goal.

That all changed on Dean’s eleventh birthday when a severe looking woman knocked on their door. Thoughts of playing football and a normal life disappeared as the woman spoke of magic, spells, and a castle in the wilds of Scotland. Dean couldn’t help but notice the slight frown on Seth’s face throughout the witch’s speech.

Later that night, he sat down with his parents. “Don’t worry, Seth. I’m sure the magical folk have sports like football too. I can’t wait to learn their sports and then teach you the rules too. It’ll be my turn to teach you something,” he exclaimed.

“I’m sure you’ll love being there, buddy,” he smiled. “I can’t wait to hear all about it either.”

***

Hogwarts was everything he had imaged it to be and more. Magic was fantastic, and he couldn’t even begin to explain the feeling he got when he learned a new spell or charm. But he tired. Each Saturday, he sat down with a quill and parchment and wrote a long letter to his mum and Seth. He detailed everything he could, from being roommates with _the_ Harry Potter and why he was famous, to his surprise that his other roommate Ron couldn’t understand how great football was, to his new best mate Seamus. He missed his parents, of course, but he wanted them to know how much he was loving Hogwarts.

It wasn’t until after watching his first quidditch match that he began to share his heart with another sport. The letter that followed the match was filled with his excitement about quidditch, and his intent to learn the sport himself. He just knew he’d make a good chaser, and he set out to learn everything he could about the position.

That was how he met her. Katie Bell was one of the Gryffindor chasers, and because she was only a second year, she was less intimidating to him than the other two girls. Gathering his courage, he caught her alone one afternoon in the common room.

“Hey Katie, I know you probably don’t know me, but I’m Dean Thomas, and well, I just wanted to say that you’re really good at quidditch,” he stammered. “And, uh, if you didn’t mind, I would really appreciate some pointers from you.”

“Hi Dean, of course I’ll help you. Where do you want to start?”

That afternoon was the beginning of afternoons spent together discussing quidditch, which lead to other topics, and quickly lead to a close friendship.

***

His second year was much the same as the first, only he now had a close friend other than Seamus. He had kept in constant contact with Katie over the summer, even inviting her to his house to help explain quidditch to Seth. Both his parents were just as enthralled with Katie as their son, and they were just glad to know that he had such friendships at school.

They continued his quidditch lessons in their spare time, but now Dean was teaching Katie how to play footy as well. It was his opinion that quick reflexes with a football would translate well to quicker reflexes on a broom. Katie agreed with him, and together they practiced their skills in both sports.

***

Third year was a constant mix of high and low emotions for the pair. The addition of Dementors at the school had everyone on edge, and it had Dean constantly worrying for Katie whenever she left for practice. The Dementors terrified him, and he knew they affected her just as much. He made sure to always have a piece of chocolate and a warm blanket waiting for her whenever she came back from practices. After all, what were best friends for?

The day the Dementors stormed the stands was one of the worst days of his life to date. He felt the cold creep into his body slowly, like a thick fog rolling in off a bog. In his mind, he knew what was happening before he saw them. His only thought was that he hoped Katie could get to the ground safely.

That night, he had chocolate pieces, hot cocoa, and her favorite blanket waiting for her when she finally came back to the common room after visiting Harry. Later, after everyone had gone to sleep, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she cried onto his shirt.

***

When the announcement came for the Yule Ball, Dean knew there was only one girl he wanted to go with. Now in his fourth year, he felt like that little firstie all over again as he walked up to her in the common room.

“Hey Katie, I was wondering if you would like to go to the Yule Ball with me?” Like so many other times, Dean was happy his dark skin couldn’t show the blush on his cheeks.

“Oh, Dean, I’d love to go with you,” she blushed herself.

“Oh, right, well. Fantastic, yeah, fantastic. My mum told me to ask what color your dress is, that way we could match.”

“You told your mum you were going to ask me?”

“Well of course. You know she loves you. And you know Seth, he told me I’d be an idiot if I didn’t ask you.”

“Yeah, you would have been an idiot. But at least you’re my idiot.”

“Right, your idiot.”

***

He was such an idiot. Why he thought a quick snog in a broom closet with Ginny Weasley was a good idea, he’d never know. And of course, Katie had caught them. He couldn’t forget the look of hurt and disgust on her face before she turned around and walked away. Now she wasn’t speaking to him and he had Ginny following him around like a lovesick puppy.

All he had wanted was a little bit of experience and to see what the other blokes were talking about. Instead, he had his best friend mad at him and another witch asking if they were in a relationship now. It was all so confusing, and he honestly didn’t understand why Katie was mad. He would never understand girls.

***

He never understood why Ginny had such an issue with his friendship with Katie. She constantly tried to get him to give her up, but Dean stayed firm in his resolve. It took them awhile to get back to the way they were after he started dating Ginny, but he wouldn’t let her friendship go. She was one of, if not the most important people in his life, and he needed her friendship. Ginny would just have to deal with her.

It turned out that Ginny couldn’t deal with her and ended their relationship part way into his sixth year. To say that Katie was happy was an understatement, and if he was truly honest with himself, he was not very sad about the split either. For too long, he felt like he was competing with Harry Potter for Ginny’s affection, and he response would always be to bring up his friendship with Katie.

For a while, he denied having any attraction to his best friend like Ginny obviously had for Harry, but the more he thought about it, maybe she did have a point. Katie was the one that had always been there for him, and his parents had hinted at the two of them often enough.

But even he was smart enough to know not to jump from one relationship to another. He knew Katie wasn’t a rebound, but he didn’t want to her to believe she was. In the end, it didn’t matter, before he could even broach the subject with her, she had been cursed by a necklace.

Those months she spent in St. Mungo’s were some of the most difficult times of his life, and all he could think was that when, not if, but when she got better, he was going to declare himself to her. He had almost lost her and knew anything he thought he felt while dating Ginny was miniscule compared to his feelings for Katie.

The moment she walked through the Great Hall’s doors, Dean immediately jumped up to help her to the Gryffindor table. He kept a close eye on her throughout dinner and made sure he was there to help her back to the common room afterward. He knew many of their classmates wanted to talk to her, but he was her personal guard dog and wouldn’t let anyone bother her.

That night they shared their first kiss of many, and for the first time Dean felt truly happy.

***

No one could have known what the world was going to become after the death of Dumbledore and the rise of Voldemort. When the Muggleborn Registration Act was passed, Dean knew what he had to do. He penned a quick letter to Katie telling her to go back to Hogwarts and that he’d be safe. The ring he had given her had been his mum’s from his biological father’s when they had gotten married.

He had never seen it before, and even he could feel the old Magick radiating from gold band. It was obviously an old family heirloom, and even more proof that his father was actually a wizard like he believed. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t prove anything to the great toad, and he knew he’d have to run.

With thoughts of protecting his family, including Katie, Dean set off on his own to try to wait out this mess of a war.

Not far into his travels, he met up with a Gringotts goblin and a muggleborn wizard. Both Griphook and Ted Tonks became his companions as they traversed the English wildlands. They three managed to keep themselves alive through sheer dumb luck most of the time, but the had food and most of the time a dry place to sleep.

In one night, their lives were changed dramatically. They had entered a small clearing in the middle of the woods. The clearing had a small basin on a pedestal set amidst a ring of stones. The ring called to Dean in a way nothing had before, and he found himself unconsciously moving toward them.

“Wait lad, I don’t think ye should be entering the circle. It’s obviously a family alter, and there’s deep Magick in those that don’t normally take kindly to outsiders.”

Dean look back and forth between Ted and the circle before agreeing with the older man. “Yeah, sure. I should get us some fire wood anyway.”

He walked back into the wooded area to try and find any kindling to start a fire. The clearing would be a good place to set up camp for the night, but they needed to get the fire started first. They had agreed early on to use as little magic as possible to not be detected by the Snatchers. Dean started gathering the kindling and downed branches when he came across a large tree.

The tree was different to the others, it was taller and bigger, and somehow it almost felt like it was alive. Dean felt the same pull as the alter earlier only now toward the tree. He dropped the wood in his hands and stumbled forward. Placing his hand against the trunk, he felt a calmness he hadn’t felt since the last time he saw Katie.

It was amazing how perfectly he could see her in his mind’s eye at that moment. She was beautiful, dressed for their wedding day. She had opted for a muggle wedding dress, and the sight brought tears to his yes. Almost without conscious thought, Dean brought his wand up and with a quick slicing motion, chopped a branch off from the old tree. The moment the limb hit the ground, a flash of golden light surrounded Dean and a stab of pain struck his left ring finger. He didn’t have time to look down at his hand before Snatchers had him covered and he was quickly bound. It wasn’t until he was thrown into the Malfoy’s dungeon with Griphook that he noticed Ted wasn’t with them.

It was even later that he took the time to look at his left hand and saw the words “Dean and Kathryn Shafiq” written in an elegant script shaped like a ring around his finger.

***

_One Year Later_

Dean couldn’t believe how much his life had changed from a year ago. Here he was, standing next to his wife, after finally saying their wedding vows before their friends and family. Of course, this was just a blessing of their union for the friends and family to witness as they had actually been bonded the night of his capture.

It had taken some time after the fall of Voldemort and the cleansing of the Ministry of Magic for him to find out his true origins, but the House of Shafiq’s bonding magic was the stuff of legend, and no one could deny his heritage anymore.

Hermione Granger was actually the one to help him and Katie make sense of the matching tattoos they wore after the dust finally settled at the final battle.

“Oh, Dean,” she exclaimed. “I didn’t realize you were a Shafiq. When did you find the family tree?”

“What family tree?”

“You mean you don’t know? Here, let me find the Pure-Blood Directory. It’s all in here.” And before he could say anything, Hermione had her arm elbows deep into a small beaded bag before pulling out a large old tome. “I’m not sure why I brought this with me, but it made for some interesting reading while we were on the run.” She quickly flipped through the book before handing it to him. “Here, read this part. Just give me it back next time I see you.”

Dean didn’t even see her leave, so engrossed in the book was he. And she was right, the book answered all his questions, included the fact that Shafiq’s only married their soulmates and the chopping of part of the family tree bonded them for life.

Looking at his lovely wife now, dressed in the beautiful gown he saw in his vision, he couldn’t help but be thankful he had stumbled upon his birthright and his family’s tree.


End file.
